The United States Small Business Administration will offer disaster assistance to residents affected by the tornadoes of Jan. 21 in the form of low-interest, long-term loans.

“The U.S. Small Business Administration is strongly committed to providing the people of Mississippi with the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist businesses, homeowners and renters with federal disaster loans. Getting businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at the SBA,” the SBA said in a press release.

Residents in Lauderdale County, as well as the counties affected by the Hattiesburg tornado, qualify for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Adjacent counties may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, including Clarke, Jones, Newton, Neshoba and Kemper Counties in Mississippi as well as Choctaw and Sumter Counties in Alabama. 

Businesses and private non-profit organizations may borrow up to $2 million for repairs or replacements. Applicants may also be approved for up to a 20 percent loan increase for mitigation improvements such as safe rooms or storm shelters.

These Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available regardless of whether the business or non-profit organization suffered any physical property damage.

Homeowners may qualify for up to $200,000 in loans for damaged or destroyed homes. Both homeowners and renters may apply for up $40,000 to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed personal property. 

Interest rates, depending on the applicant’s financial condition, may be as low as 3.125 percent for businesses, 2.5 percent for non-profit organizations and 1.5 percent for homeowners and renters for up to 30 years. 

As of Feb. 2, over $31,000 of SBA Loans had been approved in Mississippi.

Applicants may apply using the Electronic Loan Application at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

Applicants should also be registered for disaster assistance with FEMA. To register with FEMA, residents may visit disasterassistance.gov, download the FEMA app or call at (800) 621-3362. 

For more information call SBA at (800) 659-2955 (or (800) 877-8339 for the hearing impaired) or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

The deadline for physical property damage applications is March 27, 2017. For economic injury applications, the deadline is Oct. 25, 2017.